If you’ve ever worked in a studio, you know that good mic’ing technique can make or break a recording. It can be tough to find the best mic position and angle on a speaker cab, and locating the room’s sweet spot can frustrate even the savviest of session cats. When everything comes together, the results can be outstanding—the first two Van Halen albums quickly come to mind—but getting there can be a challenge.

Digital modeling and direct recording devices offer an alternative to the complexities of mic’ing guitars and amps, yet many guitarists and bassists aren’t willing to give up their prized tube gear or sacrifice the tone and feel of a well-tuned tube amplifier for the sake of convenience.

This problem was met head-on by Guillaume Pille—founder of Two Notes Audio Engineering—and the result was the company’s Torpedo VB-101. The device was designed to silently record guitar and bass amps while avoiding the hassles of traditional mic’ing techniques. The VB-101 was such a hit with guitarists that the company decided to build another iteration of the Torpedo, the VM-202. This unit is aimed at musicians who rely on rackmount preamps to obtain their tones.

Man the Torpedos!
Designed to accept up to two separate output signals from instrument preamps—such as Marshall’s JMP-1—the 2-channel VM-202 offers powerful and extensive power-amp, cabinet, and mic simulation. And although the VM-202 was designed to round out a guitarist’s signal chain, it also works with most any instrument or piece of gear that has a line output jack, including stereo-enabled keyboards and synthesizers. The VM-202 sports line-level XLR inputs, which means that if your preamp only has a 1/4" output, you'll need a 1/4"-to-XLR cable and possibly a converter box if the line out is too low-level.

A Trifecta of Tone
The first of the VM-202’s three functions is to emulate a power amp. In this stage, the 202 simulates EL34, 6L6, EL84, and KT88 power tubes configured in either push-pull (class AB) or single-ended (class A) modes. All told, that’s eight different options for power-amp emulation.

From there, the signal goes to the VM-202’s cabinet modeler. This stage contains several different cabs each with various speaker configurations, for a total of 30 virtual cabinets. These are modeled on popular guitar and bass cabinets, such as a vintage Fender Twin Reverb 2x12 cabinet with orange-label JBLs, the VHT Deliverance 2x12, and the mighty Ampeg SVT 8x10 (aptly labeled “Fridge” in the VM-202).

The last component in the 202 chain is its virtual microphone. There are eight of these, including the tried-and-true Shure SM57 and Sennheiser MD 421. This stage is where the VM-202 truly shines. Using the included Torpedo Remote software—which the VM-202 accesses via a USB connection—you’re able to move the virtual microphone around in a simulated room. There’s even an option to mic the simulated cabinet from behind, which can yield great results with an open-back cab.

All of these options—including adjusting mic gain and output volume—are accessible from the VM-202’s big and bright LCD, making it a snap to save and edit each of the unit’s 35 stored presets. It is also possible to assign completely different microphone setups to each input. With its MIDI capabilities, S/PDIF digital inputs, and optical word clock sync, the VM-202 is ready for professional studios, right out of the box.

When I first unpacked the VM-202, I was a little apprehensive about how difficult the device might be to operate and program. The unit has enough knobs, controls, and options to easily intimidate even the most gadget-friendly of guitarists. But in reality, the VM-202 is bonehead simple to use.

Tapping the Spkr/Mic button pulled up a list of options that started with the power-amp emulation. A single button press took me to a selection of power amps, any one of which I could select using the large, front-panel knob. Similarly, I used the knob to select a cabinet and microphone. And that was all it took to get up and running with the VM-202.

As I mentioned, further tonal options—such as visually moving the microphone around—are possible using the Torpedo Remote software, but I didn’t need to delve into that immediately because I was able to get a great sound almost right away. It was refreshing to access such modeling power without being overwhelmed by a massive amount of options and features.

A native of the Pacific Northwest, Jordan grew up traveling the country as the son of theater technical directors and speech instructors. His exposure to the performing arts early on helped foster his love for music and attention to detail, and upon receiving his first guitar at age 15, he became hooked. Jordan brings a considerable background of gear knowledge and tech experience to Premier Guitar, and has contributed an extensive amount of articles, artist interviews and Rig Rundown videos since late 2008. He lives in the Iowa City area, where he also works to bring music education initiatives to both local and regional communities.

Stay Connected

Sign up for our email newsletters!

Get the PG Apps

On PremierGuitar.com, "Sponsored Content" refers to articles, videos, or audio recordings that are produced or curated by an advertiser but that Premier Guitar is happy to share alongside our own editorial content due to the Sponsored Content’s educational, musical, or entertainment value. Sponsored Content is clearly labeled everywhere it appears, and Premier Guitar's editorial department has no involvement in its creation.